Developer Habitat First Group, who prides itself on creating high quality holiday accommodation, has released detailed plans it has to create Dorset Quarry into a holiday resort and nature reserve.
Plans include building up to 1,000 holiday chalets and lodges at the 260-acre Warmwell Quarry once it ceases trading by 2017. It is thought the new site will generate £570m for the local economy over the next 20 to 30 years as well as creating up to 750 jobs.
As well as holiday accommodation the proposed development, which will be called Silverlake, will also boast a country club and spa and a hotel as well as open spaces that will protect and encourage hundreds of species of local wildlife.
Habitat First Group, which already runs award-winning sustainable holiday accommodation in the Cotswolds, claims the scheme will prove to be a 'key economic driver for the future of West Dorset' with over half the investment spent with local businesses.
Managing director Will Vicary said: “We are planning to create a truly unique concept for Dorset which boosts the economy, protects and manages the environment and benefits the local community with a long-term strategic plan for the quarry.
“Habitat First has a strong track record of delivering award-winning chalets and lodges which not only offer relaxing accommodation and leisure facilities, but which also protect the wildlife and wider habitat in the area.”
He added: “Silverlake provides a sustainable solution to the future of the quarry and will also supply an economic updraft which will be felt across the local region - from Crossways to Dorchester, from Weymouth to Poundbury and the Heritage Coast.”
Habitat First is also promising to preserve important relics on the site that remain from the area's previous existence as a World War Two airfield and says it has worked with experts and to assess the ecological aspects on the site in detail.
It has also been consulting with the local community for over a year.